What do you do to treat your kids ailments and help boost their immune system?

How awful it is when our little ones come down with a fever. Of course we have Nurofen handy to bring down the temperature, and then there is the runny nose that must be an allergy?? So many perplexing problems to solve when you are the mother of small children.

So gurus here is your chance to share how you overcome the problems of sore throats, temperatures etc.

I think most of all I am interested in finding out how you help to protect their immune system. We all know that a course of antibiotics undermines the immune system, so it seems that we are between a rock and a hard place, in that we need to treat our children but we also want them to have a strong immune system.

I have been reading an article that advocates cod liver oil but it would have to be a child in a million (surely?) who would be able to take it without gagging.

Looking forward to hearing how you deal with these everyday ailments that make our kids miserable.

I would but we haven't gotten to that yet! Ivan has only ever had a cold and we ran the humidifier to help relieve congestion. He also has some problems with eczema, which I just got advice for from some wonderful people here.

We have been so lucky (knock wood) with a healthy baby who at almost 1.5 hasn't had to take an antibiotic. We had eczema issues though & allergy issues. Those problems made me very conscious about food choices & clothing & bedding made of natural fibers & washed in gentle fragrance free detergents. So we live a bit of a natural lifestyle in those ways. I also credit breast feeding and allowing my daughter to set her own schedule. We are lucky to have a life situation where I stay at home with her so her naps happen when she's tired, she eats when she's hungry, I let her get out her energy when she needs it. I think it's been beneficial to her that she gets those things when she wants or needs them, not by the clock. I don't know if it's luck or if it's these lifestyle choices, but it's worked out for us! She has a fairly active social life, so she is around other kids & their germs, we have a dog and I am not a germaphobe, we live in a city and I had her out and about when she was days old we were walking to the grocery store in January!